A Quiet Place

Visovac 

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalms 46:10

There is a very small island call Visovac in the middle of a lake at the KRKA National Park in Croatia. The lake is surrounded by mountains and wooded hillsides. It can be reached by boat from the village of Skradin. Pat and I visited Visovac on the 25 August 2005 and decided it must be the choicest place on earth to have a quiet retreat.

The Augustinian monks built a monastery there in the 15th Century. They vacated the place when the Turks ruled the Balkans. In their place, the Franciscans came. Today only 8 Franciscan monks and novices live on the island tending to the monastery and gardens. For these monks, the seclusion is medicine for the restive soul. It is the perfect place to recede from our busy, crowded world for contemplation and the study of faith and theology.

Many of us feel that living in a monastery is a form of escaping from the realities of the modern world. Some of us look down on these monks because we think they are avoiding the challenges of the outside world. We need to do things whereas monastery living is not so much about doing and achieving but to be in the presence of God. Places like Visovac engender a quiet contemplative environment where the focus is on being rather than doing.

This is unfamiliar territory for many of us. We live in a very busy go-get-to-it world. The present worldview makes us measure ourselves by what we do or achieve and judge others in the same way. 

Such a living quickly wears out not only the physical body but also the soul and spirit. There is hardly any time to stop and think. The moments pass us by and before long we become old.  Then we realize, rather too latMy files - OneDrivee, that we have lost time and failed to savour and enjoy inspirational moments. If only we can find our very own quiet place, then we can appreciate this song 'Be still for the presence of the Lord'. 

Be still, for the presence of the Lord,

The holy One, is here;

Come bow before him now

With reverence and fear

In him no sin is found

We stand on holy ground.

Be still, for the presence of the Lord,

The holy One, is here.

Be still, for the glory of the Lord

Is shining all around;

He burns with holy fire,

With splendour he is crowned:

How awesome is the sight

Our radiant king of light!

Be still, for the glory of the Lord

Is shining all around.

Be still, for the power of the Lord

Is moving in this place:

He comes to cleanse and heal,

To minister his grace -

No work too hard for him.

In faith receive from him.

Be still, for the power of the Lord

Is moving in this place.

Our world cannot manage this stillness. In the Battle of the Fittest, success goes to the aggressive person who needs to climb up the corporate ladder in a rat race. To them, to be gentle, contemplative and still before God is to be weak. 

Jesus understood the struggles of the law of the jungle completely and all of its futility. Jesus advises us, 

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" Matthew 11:29

Everyone needs to find a quiet place where one can visit with God and hear the quiet and gentle whispers of God’s leading. The Quakers call this  'soul making' and seek often these times of refreshing for the soul and strengthen it.

Lionel

Updated 1st published 8 Dec 2019